This ambitious debut on gay relationships and superhero culture has trouble soaring.

Relationships are hard. Relationships where your partner can turn into an aviary superbeing with the ability to make you climax at will are harder.

Danny Lee Wynter, most known from his Olivier-nominated performance in The Normal Heart at the National Theatre, leads the cast of his debut play at the Royal Court as they wind down towards the end of Vicky Featherstone’s excellent tenure as artistic director. BLACK SUPERHERO, directed by Daniel Evans, focuses on David, an actor whose middle-aged woes melt away when he begins seeing King – a fellow actor but with much more success thanks to his Marvel-esque role as superhero Craw. David’s fascination with and idolisation of King leads him down a path of drink, drugs and debauchery.

There are great performances across the board. Wynter is relatable as the awkward and vulnerable David, an empathising mix of hope and worry as he is whirled through the glitzy and glamorous world of King, played with coolness and confidence by Dyllón Burnside. Rochenda Sandall and Eloka Ivo are strong voices of reason as Danny’s sister and friend respectively, providing more totems of strength for Danny to shrink in comparison to. A nod must also be given to Ako Mitchel who gives a show-stealing turn as studio exec Kweku at the show’s nightclub climax

There is striking lighting design from Ryan Day, a bold set of LED triangles that encircle the characters with an angular edge. There are also heightened superhero sections whose dark, sullen lighting feels evocative of Robert Pattinson’s The Batman, however there are large parts of these sections where we lose characters’ faces and a frustrating amount of action. The movement during these sections also feels underbaked and doesn’t quite match the grandeur of the staging.

Wynter’s writing holds a lot of promise – and does a good job of dissecting the tension amongst gay friendship groups and the long arm of trauma – but its lopsided structure lets it down. The overlong first act lingers too long on slightly toothless conversations, feeling like a pale imitation of Patrick Marber’s Closer, and whilst the second act does ramp up the energy and stakes, you’re left wondering why the story started halfway through. On top of this, its reliance on pop culture references and wink-wink references to London boroughs does start to tire as it hits the two-hour mark.

The creativity and ambition of this production are to be admired but its pacing issues hold it back from matching the Court’s stellar output of late.